ERIC EJ902862: Literacy and Art: Collage for Pre-Service Teachers

2010·4 MB·English

by  ERIC

LITERACY AND ART: COLLAGE FOR PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS

Alice J. Feret, EdD
Associate Professor of Reading, College of Education
East Carolina University

Judith J. Smith, EdD
Assistant Professor of Elementary Education, College of Education
East Carolina University

Art educators have a unique opportunity to develop and strengthen a cross-
curricular foundation in literacy through art education. Enrolled in a content area
reading course, pre-service teachers in art education at one, large southeastern
university discovered that using language skills as a lens sharpened their
observations of student performance in art classes at the elementary and high
school levels.

The inclusion of brief lessons featuring listening, reading, speaking, or writing
strategies revealed unanticipated academic needs, which impacted classroom
performance and artistic development. This increased awareness deepened pre-
service teachers‘ understanding of young students as learners and allowed the pre-
service teachers to adjust their lesson planning and classroom management skills.
The pre-service teachers were more confident in their practice as they witnessed
the results of their efforts in terms of students‘ improved levels of artistic
achievements.

Educators across all disciplines are findings ways to develop and
strengthen a cross-curricular foundation in literacy. Whether in fine arts, health,
mathematics, physical education, science, or social studies, teachers assist students
in gaining knowledge of texts they encounter in accordance with the Australian
Department of Education‘s Literacy Policy (1997), which states:
Literacy…includes the cultural knowledge which enables a speaker,
writer or reader to recognize and use language appropriate to
different social situations. (Students) learn about the power of
language to convey explicit and implicit meanings and layers of
meaning, and they develop the capacity to discuss and analyze
texts and language. (p. 9)
Students look critically at multimedia, performance, spoken, visual, and
written texts that question and challenge attitudes, beliefs, and values to make
meaning from the array of musical, multimedia, sound, visual imagery, and virtual
worlds that confront everyone. Mindful of each challenge for seasoned teachers, the
researchers in this study focused on pre-service teachers, as they investigated the
question: How should literacy pervade
curricula specifically in art education? Students look critically at
The concept of integrating language multimedia, performance,
arts objectives with specialty subject areas spoken, visual, and written
like art began to appear in the literature in texts that question and
the late 1990‘s, as an outgrowth of the challenge attitudes, beliefs,
National Standards for Arts Education, (1994). and values to make meaning
That document identified the knowledge and from the array of musical,
skills basic to competencies in the arts and multimedia, sound, visual
highlighted a ―positive correlation between a imagery, and virtual worlds

that confront everyone.
substantive education in the arts and student
achievement in other subjects and on
InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching 37
standardized tests‖ (p. 7). With the Goals 2000: Educate America Act (1994) federal
mandate, art education attained legitimacy as a core subject, emerging from the
sideline to which American education regularly relegates the fine arts during cyclical
debates over public funding.
During this same decade, a stream of various ―report cards‖ [from the
National Center for Educational Statistics, the National Reading Panel et al (Reading
Today, p. 4)] detailed the nation‘s literacy levels; and legislation underscored the
obligation of public schools to raise the literacy level of all students (NCLB, 2002).
―Reading Across the Curriculum,‖ an inter-disciplinary staple of literacy learning in
progressive school districts nationwide, suddenly became the norm.
Public school art educators saw this as a surprising reversal. Long
accustomed to collaborating with content area teachers in order to support and
justify the continued existence of art in school curricula, educators now faced a shift
from integrating the arts into educational programming to reinforcing basic
language arts skills within art classes.
Stewart and O‘Brien (1989) reported that most secondary teachers felt not
only unwilling but also inadequately prepared to teach communication skills (p.
397); likewise, public school faculty and state departments of education grappled
with implementation of these updated standards for the new century. Similarly,
university teacher-preparation programs sought to align their courses of study with
a cross-curricular literacy focus.
The insertion of literacy objectives into graduation requirements for teacher
preparation programs affected education majors in all content areas. The current
study investigated how pre-service art teachers learned to blend literacy lessons
with art foci for public school students at one NCATE (North Carolina Association of
Teacher Educators) approved college of education. In particular, the study
examined the outcomes of integrating three consecutive lessons in listening,
reading, writing or speaking on pre-service art teachers in elementary and high
school placements.

Why should literacy pervade curricula?

According to Hladczuk and Eller (1992), literacy is ―the vehicle of
education, the means through which ideas, information, knowledge and wisdom are
expressed and exchanged‖ (p. ix). Literate individuals possess the capacity to
function fully in society: to make reasoned choices, to acquire meaningful
employment, to participate in civic affairs.
Reading and writing represent literacy in its most familiar forms: the
process of scanning letters or symbols to gain
meaning and the recording of thought in Literate individuals possess
somewhat permanent form. Listening and the capacity to function fully
speaking is the second pair of language skills in society: to make reasoned
that identify a literate people. Speech is a choices, to acquire
mode of oral communication, expressing meaningful employment, to
thought; listening assumes a thoughtful participate in civic affairs.
consideration of sound, whether verbal or
artistic. Listening is also an attribute of student conduct, the core of classroom
management plans. In tandem, these four literacy processes shape cognition.
However, Ryan (1992) stated, ―[t]he most fundamental educational skill is
not reading, but thinking. Reading is important precisely because it provides food
for thought in nourishing doses‖ (p. xii). Since democratic government depends on
informed participation of its citizenry, reading in America has long been ―our
common concern and collective responsibility‖ (Ryan, 1992, p. ix). National
legislation now in place (U.S. Department of Education, 2002) offers federal grant
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money to states, providing they screen children at risk for reading failure and
comply with strictly defined remediation and assessment measures. School districts
in participating states have required the help of all faculty members in concerted
efforts to raise standardized test scores by teaching reading and writing across all
disciplines.
The current United States educational emphasis on the fields of science,
technology, engineering, and math (STEM, 2008) offers great potential for
maximizing not only students‘ understanding of specific content-related ideas and
concepts but also their engagement as readers and writers (Atkinson et al., 2009).
Since the same skills and strategies are fundamental to reading comprehension
regardless of the subject area, teachers can explicitly model how to activate
background knowledge, clarify, question, predict what will happen, and summarize
information within these content areas.
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) emphasizes ―the
important role of communication in helping children construct understandings of
mathematical concepts and develop connections between their informal knowledge
and the abstract symbolism of mathematical
Since the same skills and
concepts‖ (Hunsader, 2004, p. 618). Literature
strategies are fundamental
can be used to engage learners in meaningful
to reading comprehension
conversations and investigations in
regardless of the subject
mathematics (Hunsader, 2004), thus providing
area, teachers can explicitly
a means for mathematics and language skills to
model how to activate
develop simultaneously (Hellwig et al., 2000).
background knowledge,
Weiland‘s study of children‘s thoughts about
clarify, question, predict
division problems (as cited in Sanders, 1996)
what will happen, and
suggests that verbal responses can guide
summarize information
differentiated instruction.
within these content areas.
Science and physical education require
oral language skills such as ―active listening, following oral directions, and stating
needs and discussing issues‖ (Ballinger & Deener, 2006). Written skills, such as
assessing curricular goals, keeping fitness journals or reviewing tasks completed
cooperatively, highlight the role of students in monitoring personal growth. Oliver &
Garrison (1996) also noted the importance of speaking and writing in dance classes,
as students describe the impact of physical movement on their bodies, thus
increasing self-awareness.
Music teachers and researchers have found ways to make the language
literacy-music connection possible, because several musical skills parallel language
literacy skills. Hansen (2009) and Pearce (2000) maintain that writing about music
expands students‘ musical vocabulary and their ―conceptual understanding…of the
art form‖ (Hansen, p. 28). Liperote (2006) combines speaking and listening in her
band classes by stressing the singing of rote songs. Peisch (1995) describes an
inquiry approach to the musical ensemble that encompasses all four literacy skills.
Others emphasize how learning to read print and to read music are complementary
skill sets, because both utilize text and symbols (Darrow, 2008; Hansen & Bernstorf,
2002; Locklear, 2002).
Health literacy, which includes oral and written comprehension of
instruction and medical terms, depends upon both expressive (speaking, writing)
and reflective (listening, reading) literacy skills. Mantone (2005) claims that support
for making ―appropriate health decisions‖ could begin in pre-kindergarten (p. 30).
Bolton (2005) maintains that written narrative in medical classes paired with
literature ―offers dynamic ethical issues with which to grapple‖ (p. 171); this
practice could transfer easily to health or contemporary history classes in public
schools.

InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching 39
How does literacy instruction impact art education?

Art educators and literacy educators acknowledge an overall
interconnectedness that reframes teaching of both disciplines, but the details have
provoked discussion in the research community. Some researchers have scrutinized
art education in its entirety. Educational theorist Eisner (1976, 1982, 1995)
repeatedly maintained that the arts should be taught for the purpose of developing
reflective, aesthetic and emotional dispositions. Reisberg, Brander, & Gruenewald
(2006) advocated for a social reconstructionist arts education, which would include
an indefinable change in the content, instructional methods, and organization of
curriculum. Kalin & Kind (2006) restated the value of pre-service art teachers
working directly with children in order to identify students‘ concept of art learning in
order to maximize their teaching. Simanski (2008) justified art education by
identifying its impact on the achievement gap: "In the art room any child can
succeed...‖ (p. 12).
Some, like Baldacchino (2008), see a divide between learning and
education: "If art conforms, it has no use to learning. If it becomes synonymous
with learning, then it is not art anymore" (p. 242). He boldly suggested that "The
teaching and learning of art is trapped between the assumptions of process and
product...knowledge is a matter to be discovered but never determined, and where
a fixed ground is transformed into a wide horizon" (p. 241).
Lorimer (2009) supported Baldacchino's premise regarding the "discovery
process" in art but used the visual scanning concept as a strategy to support
interdisciplinary learning. He explained:
Visual scanning can be implemented in any classroom at any
level. To begin teachers select an art print or artifact for viewing.
After one minute of quiet observation, students begin responding
to and posing questions that prompt deeper thinking:
(a) What else do you see?
(b) How do you know?
(c) What evidence may support that?
In this way all students are allowed to share what they see and
think. (p. 11)
Since all children experience visual and graphic development as they grow, effective
visual perception seems fundamental to learning at any age in any field or content
area (Cornia, 1983).
As expressive modes, visual arts and language arts both share a common
focus on communication: listening, reading, speaking, and writing. Stephens &
Walkup (2000) identified higher-order thinking skills and the five-step writing
process as vital components of the framework for deeper exploration of art.
Simanski (2008) noted that "...Images and examples can take the place of
words," but he readily acknowledged verbal discourse as a vital link in art education
when he continued: "Learning takes place when students look at, discuss and make
art" (p. 12). Cornia (1983) maintained that young children begin to express
uniqueness with artistic efforts (such as scribbling) that satisfy the need to
communicate both ideas and feelings, but they soon learn ways to talk and write
about art. Vacca & Vacca (2002) reported that students, in one high school art
class, kept a sketchbook to guide their thoughts and record emotional responses to
what they were seeing and studying. Such a continuous record of personal
responses to art is not only a versatile writing-to-learn strategy, but also a key
element in building the reflective behaviors that Eisner espoused.
Hurwitz & Day (2007) suggested that the actual exposure to visual images
provides issues and topics that motivate children to speak and write, to think and
learn within the framework of art. Using visual concepts and vocabulary in
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discussing art, art criticism moves children beyond the mere descriptive use of
language to formal analysis and interpretation of meaning in art.
Iyengar (2008) discovered behavior patterns associated with literary
reading that impact the fine arts. He found that adults who read are three to four
times as likely as nonreaders to visit art museums and attend plays. He stated, "By
stressing the need to read widely and to read well, arts educators and cultural
policymakers will cultivate the audiences and artists necessary to sustain creativity
in the United States‖ workforce" (p. 25).
Literacy subtly permeates art curricula. Eisner (1998) summarized
"...Perhaps, the largest lesson that the arts in education can teach [is] the lesson
that life itself can be led as a work of art...‖ (p. 56).

Description of the Study

The study involved eight pre-service teachers (6 females, 2 males) in art
education, who were enrolled in a required content area reading course while
student teaching during the last semester of their senior year at a large,
southeastern university. The pre-service teachers had placements at the level of
their choice: three were at elementary schools and five at high schools (Table 1).
Each school was located within a mostly rural area of varied socioeconomic level
and racially diverse towns that surrounded the university community.
Midway through the semester, after background in instructional reading
levels, comprehension strategies, and the readability of school-issued texts, the
pre-service teachers were asked to observe an art class of their choice and to
identify one language-related issue that seemed to interfere with optimal teaching
and learning in elementary or high school art classes. With the supervising teacher‘s
approval, each pre-service teacher then constructed and implemented three
consecutive lessons to address the problematic area. Lesson format was a personal
choice (entire period, mini-lesson, small group or whole class), but a focus on one
literacy skill (listening, reading, speaking, writing) as the method of instruction was
a requirement.
The following examples illustrate lessons pre-service teachers created
using specific literacy skills as a focus. Listening lessons for high school art class
combined listening and following directions in order to understand and apply the
two-point perspectives in an art work. Students listened to the teacher explain how
to create imaginary environments containing buildings, landscapes for horizon lines
and to incorporate organic still-life forms. In a photography class, students listened
to enhance note-taking skills. One pre-service teacher stated:
Photography is very hands-on. There is also an endless amount of
information about the processes, chemicals and history of
photography. Students will not just pick up the photography book
and read it for the fun of it. To practice note-taking skills about
important information in photography, I will incorporate open note
quizzes into the curriculum. Students will have to learn how to
take thorough notes, pull important points out of the lecture and
keep track of their notes.
Listening lessons in art at the elementary level included students listening
to directions for making an accordion book with warm and cool colors. Students also
focused on listening to complete a lesson on Van Gogh‘s painting, ―Starry Night.‖
Reading lessons in art classes helped students interpret, evaluate, and
apply information. In the course Renaissance Art and Perspective Drawing, a focus
on reading comprehension provided students with opportunities to draw inferences
and analyze data. A lesson using Matisse cutouts demonstrated how telling a story
InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching 41
in visual terms could support reading comprehension. Reading medieval art
literature supplied context for a lesson on calligraphy and illuminated manuscripts.
Writing lessons included a research paper on a sculptor. A second lesson
focused on using quotes from a sculptor to explore the world of art. Students wrote
weekly in a sketchbook by journaling, sketching, collecting images, and writing
poems and/or thoughts. This pre-service teacher asked students to respond to the
following questions about the sculptor's quotations: (a) What do you think this
quotation is saying? (b) What do you think about the quotation and why? (c) Can
this quotation relate to your life? The purpose of the assignment was to have
students realize that artists can combine both reflective and critical writing with
their artwork.
Speaking lessons helped students express their interpretation of art.
Because growth comes from discussing art, as well as expressing oneself through
art, the students learned to speak about what makes some art more successful and
why.
After each lesson, participants recorded in a research notebook what
worked, what did not work, and what they would do differently next time. Upon
completion of the third consecutive lesson, pre-service teachers reflected on the
project by responding to six questions designed to invite analysis, synthesis, and
comments. The questions were:
(a) Did your lessons go according to plan?
(b) What did you learn about your students through these
lessons?
(c) Did you learn something about your students that you might
not have known otherwise?
(d) Did the lessons OR new learning make a difference in how you
planned for instruction?
(e) How will you transfer this awareness to your own professional
practice?
(f) Any random comments?
At the conclusion of the project, pre-service teachers met near campus
with a guest art educator in one of two, small peer groups to present five-minute
summaries of their projects. One at a time, they identified the literacy skill they had
selected, described one lesson they had taught, and verbally shared what they had
learned. After each summary, the guest art educators evaluated the presentations
and assigned a grade to each project.

Methodology for Analysis

The instructor, who was also one of the researchers for this study, read the
reflective summaries and circled quotations, key phrases in response to the
questions, and any additional commentary. Utilizing the four literacy skills
(listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and the study‘s basic framework of new
understandings in regard to self-awareness and insights, she began by sorting data
into distributions by school placement and art class.
Next, the researcher listed the pre-service teachers‘ responses to
questions. A total of 105 responses to questions two through five were received. Six
participants shared random comments in response to question six.
The researcher refined categories by highlighting and grouping the
responses according to the chosen literacy skill. Although each question stimulated
a direct response from many participants, the questions provoked reflection from
some. The researcher created subgroups and used analytic induction to explore the
data and denote contrasts in responses.
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In order to prevent bias, a colleague with no connection to the course or to
art education students also reviewed the distributions and reanalyzed the data. She
provided oral and written comments related to the data to the researchers in order
to coalesce the results of the study.

Results

Table 1 shows that two of three pre-service teachers at elementary schools
chose to focus on listening skills, and three of six at high schools. By contrast, no
elementary art pre-service teachers focused on reading, while reading concerned
only one high school placement. One teacher at the elementary school level
selected speaking as a focus, and one at the high school level selected writing as a
focus. Overall, both elementary and high school pre-service teachers selected
"listening" as a literacy focus in art class.

Table 1: Distribution of literacy skills selected for lesson focus by school
placement
Literacy Skill Elementary School High School Total
Listening 2 3 5
Reading 0 1 1
Speaking 1 0 1
Writing 0 1 1
Total 3 5 8

In response to the introductory question (―Did your lessons go according to
plan?‖), pre-service teachers indicated that in teaching their first and second
lessons they learned much about their students but the lessons did not always go as
planned. While teaching the third lesson, pre-service teachers noted that their
lessons were successful.
Tables 2-5 display pre-service teachers‘ responses to four questions
designed to help them analyze and synthesize the results of their experiences with
literacy lessons in art curricula. Tallies varied in number because some participants
offered multiple comments, while others declined to comment.
Many learned to identify which students understood the material, who was
struggling, and why; see Table 2. Pre-service teachers gained new understandings
about their students, self-awareness of their teaching, and insight regarding literacy
and art. They found that students‘ personal values are reflected in their application
and understanding of art.
Those who had focused on listening skills reported that students produced
a good product when they listen. While one complained, ―Listening is the problem
area in art education,‖ another observed that ―Teachers can enhance the students‘
abilities to assimilate information creatively.‖ One stated, ―Students learn in
different ways: some visually and some aurally‖; and another conceded,
―Elementary students cannot listen attentively for a long time.‖
One pre-service teacher committed to reading skills quickly recognized that
―Many students at the high school level answer questions but cannot back up their
answers.‖ Students enjoyed making predictions and evaluative judgments, yet they
were completely reticent when asked to critique their own art products or connect
what they believed with current reality.
The pre-service teacher who selected speaking as a focus shared that
―Students are eager to learn and express thoughts about art, yet they struggle with
InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching 43
the notion of meaning despite explicit instruction.‖ She also considered whether
―Some art concepts are too difficult for second graders.‖

Table 2: What did you learn about your students through these lessons?
New Understandings Listening Reading Speaking Writing Total
Students answer questions 1 1 2
but cannot back up their
answers.
Students are eager to learn 1 1
and express thoughts about
art.
Students have difficulty 1 1
critiquing their own art
work.
Students listen when taking 1 1
notes.
Students produce an 2 1 3
excellent product when they
listen.
Students struggle with 1 1 2
meaning despite explicit
instruction.
Self-awareness
Students learn in different 1 1
ways: some visually and
some aurally.
Teachers can enhance the 1 1
students' abilities to
assimilate information
creatively.
Teachers can motivate 1 1
students to listen by making
an assignment.
Insights
Clear plans/demonstrations 1 1 2
produce improved student
response.
Students are more attentive 1 1
during lessons which interest
them.
Total 9 3 1 3 16

The pre-service teacher who selected writing skills agreed with the
reading-focus summaries that ―Students answer questions but cannot back up their
answers.‖ She also cited students‘ ―difficulty critiquing their own art work‖ as a core
issue.
Table 3 indicates what pre-service teachers learned about students through
the delivery of literacy lessons. They observed different degrees of student
engagement throughout the lessons and gradually recognized in students a mix of
developmental and instructional needs.

44 Volume 5 ● 2010
Table 3: Did you learn something about your students that you might not
have known otherwise?
New Understandings Listening Reading Speaking Writing Total
Students express their 1 1
opinions in different ways.
Students have problems 1 1
listening to a set of multiple
steps in a project.
Students have a gap in 1 1
understanding art concepts
of linear perspective.
Students have difficulty 1 1
expressing their opinions in
written form and in
explaining steps of projects.
Students have problems 1 1
writing in an organized
format.
Students need a more 1 1
authoritarian approach from
me.
Students need to hear 1 1
directions repeated.
Students need varied 2 1 3
instructional strategies.
Students want consistency. 1 1
Self-awareness
Awareness of why students 1 1
don‘t listen is important.
Clear plans/demonstrations 2 2
produce improved student
response.
Insights
Students listen well and pay 1 1 2
attention when the teacher
reads aloud.
Students need constant 1 1
reinforcement.
Total 8 4 1 4 17

Table 4 details how knowledge gained might influence instruction. With
documented awareness of students‘ specific needs, pre-service teachers planned
differently. They actively modified their teaching style by strengthening the
procedural elements of their instructional planning to match students‘ Zone of
Proximal Development (Vygotsky, 1934/1978). They adjusted their style,
methodology, and/or course content.

InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching 45
Table 4: Did the lessons OR new learning make a difference in how you
planned for instruction?
New Understanding Listening Reading Speaking Writing Total
Students' attention needs to 1 1
be on the teacher "All eyes
on me."
Students have difficulty 1 1
expressing thoughts in
words instead of drawings.
Students should take notes 1 1
during lecture to help their
understanding.
Students should categorize 1 1
to organize their notes.
Students need constant 1 1
practice.
Students used vocabulary 2 2
sheets to understand
concepts in two- and three-
dimensional art concepts.
Self-awareness
List steps for the lesson on 1 1
the board.
Make directions explicit. 1 1 2
Organize the lecture into 1 1
steps.
Provide an anticipation 2 2 4
guide.
Push students to be creative 1 1
and express their thoughts
in words.
Rehearse the material to 2 1 3
address potential pitfalls.
Talk with students about 1 1
their opinions, research
problems.
Teach a multiple step 1 1
project in different ways.
Insights
Timing is vital to the success 1 1 1 3
of the lesson.
Struggling readers respond 1 1
to small units of instruction.
Total 9 7 2 7 25

Pre-service teachers noted, ―Timing is vital to the success of the lesson‖;
and ―Struggling readers respond to small units of instruction.‖ Additional comments
included: ―Students need constant practice,‖ ―categorizing assists the students in
organizing their notes,‖ and ―students need visual examples of projects.‖
Table 5 lists pre-service teachers' responses to how this expanded
understanding of student development might shape their future practice. Over half
of the group pragmatically listed nine effective instructional strategies to use in their
classrooms.
The creation of more developmentally appropriate instructional and
delivery techniques for an integrated curriculum, as noted in Tables 4 and 5,
paralleled an increase in both personal and professional growth for some pre-service
teachers. As a result of multiple opportunities for written reflection, several study
46 Volume 5 ● 2010